


Vessels

by TalkMagically



Series: Destiny, Interrupted [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Awkward meeting of the vessels is awkward, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2017-11-20
Packaged: 2019-02-04 21:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12779667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalkMagically/pseuds/TalkMagically
Summary: Sam and Dean run into a familiar face when they're making a pit stop to fill the Impala's gas tank.





	Vessels

Sam rolled his eyes as he listened to Dean belt out AC/DC in the car while waiting for Sam to finish filling the gas tank. It wouldn’t be so bad if Dean could at least carry a tune. Sighing, Sam glanced around at the people at the other pumps out of habit. He froze in horror when he saw someone extremely familiar standing outside an SUV at the pumps furthest from the Impala.

“Dean,” Sam started, tapping on the car window while crouching down to prevent himself from being seen. “Dean!”

“What?” Dean snapped in irritation while rolling down the window.

“Please tell me I’m not hallucinating,” Sam said, pointing towards the person who caught his eye. Dean turned to see what Sam was pointing at and adopted a similar look of horror when he, too, recognized the person.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Dean hissed. He got out of the car and joined Sam at the pump. “What do you think the odds are that Lucifer _isn’t_ back in him?”

Sam looked over at the man he knew only as Lucifer’s vessel, trying to see if anything about how the man held himself hinted at him being inhabited by Lucifer again.

“He seems human, because why the Hell would Lucifer be at a gas station, but I honestly don’t know,” Sam finally said.

“We gotta talk to him, Sam. Other than you, he’s the only person we know who’s had an angel in his noggin and wasn’t completely burned out,” Dean said.

“Agreed,” Sam said.

The brothers watched as ‘Lucifer’ finished pumping and headed inside to pay. To their luck, he didn’t head back to his vehicle upon exiting. Instead, he headed around the corner of the building to the bathroom. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, Dean and Sam headed after him. They held a silent conversation with gestures and head nods outside the door as they waited, but it didn’t take long. When ‘Lucifer’ stepped out of the bathroom, still drying his hands with a section of paper towel, he ran into Dean first.

“Oh, sorry!” ‘Lucifer’ chuckled, giving Dean an apologetic smile. “Didn’t know there was a line waiting.”

“Not really a line,” Sam spoke up, catching the man’s attention. The man’s eyes went wide in recognition, and he began stumbling backward to get space between himself and Sam. Dean grabbed him and pushed him against the wall, causing the man to now look at Dean in panic, as well.

“Sam!” ‘Lucifer’ gasped in surprise, grabbing at Dean’s forearms out of instinct. “I… I didn’t expect to see you here!”

“That feeling is definitely mutual,” Sam said, taking a step closer. “The question at the front of my mind, however, is _why_ are you here?”

“I live here!” ‘Lucifer’ exclaimed.

“You live here?” Dean repeated incredulously.

“Yes!” ‘Lucifer’ insisted, looking back and forth between the brothers.

“Dean, that is not a phrase I would have ever expected to hear out of his mouth,” Sam said, turning to look at Dean.

“Dean? You’re Dean?” ‘Lucifer’ interrupted, giving Dean a shocked look.

“Wait, you didn’t recognize me?” Dean asked. “Dude, I shot you!”

“You _what_?!” ‘Lucifer’ exclaimed. He struggled slightly to try and get Dean to let go of him, but Dean leaned forward to pin him harder to the wall.

“Sammy?” Dean asked, giving Sam an unsure look.

“Let him go. Obviously, he’s not you-know-who,” Sam sighed, rubbing his face in exasperation. Dean rolled his eyes and stepped away, as well, dropping his arms back to his sides.

“Hold on. You thought I was Lucifer?” the man asked, rubbing at his chest where Dean had been pressing.

“Kinda hard not to, don’t you think?” Sam said. “I thought you died in Detroit.”

“Of course I didn’t die in Detroit. Lucifer doesn’t break promises,” the man said.

“Pause. Rewind. If you’re not Lucifer, then who the hell are you? And how the hell do you know who Sammy and Lucifer are but not me?” Dean asked.

“My name’s Nick,” Nick replied, letting out an irritated breath. “Obviously I’m going to know who Lucifer is because the angel _did_ inhabit me for several months. And I know Sam because Lucifer told me all about him. I remember seeing Sam’s face in Detroit, after he said yes, before blacking out. You, however, I don’t recall ever meeting.”

“Dean just said a minute ago that he shot you. How do you not remember someone shooting you?” Sam pressed.

“I don’t know about you, Sam, but Lucifer blocked me from knowing what was going on around me when I was being used as a vessel. I can only remember all the internal conversations we had,” Nick said.

Sam stared at Nick in disbelief for several seconds, trying to process what Nick just said. Dean gave Sam a concerned look before taking half a step forward to take control of the conversation again.

“You remember nothing of what Lucifer did?” Dean asked.

“I only remember what I was told. Lucifer hinted at several atrocious things when talking about certain things, like the Four Horsemen, but I never pressed for details. I figured not knowing was better if Lucifer was actively preventing me from seeing it. There were times, of course, where I did get to see what was going on, but all of it was benign. The grand canyon. Niagara Falls. The Rocky Mountains. Basically, all I got to see was Lucifer playing tourist,” Nick said.

“Playing tourist,” Sam scoffed, turning away as he rubbed his face again.

“If you don’t believe me that I don’t remember anything, ask Lucifer, yourself. She’s back at the house,” Nick offered. He immediately adopted an ‘oh, shit’ expression and groaned.

“ _Ask_ Lucifer, ourselves?” Dean asked slowly.

“She?” Sam asked at the same time.

Nick looked back and forth between Dean and Sam again, not knowing which one to answer first. Neither Winchester looked like someone you wanted to piss off.

“Lucifer and Michael were released from the Cage by their Father a while ago,” Nick said, deciding to address Dean first. “It’s kinda hard to say no when God, himself, drops one of his children on your lap and tells that child to stay there.”

“How long ago is a while ago?” Dean pushed, his face turning stony.

“Couple months,” Nick said.

“She?!” Sam interrupted before Dean could ask anything more, grabbing Nick’s attention. “Last I checked, Nick, Lucifer was a guy.”

“Well, you see, the thing is…” Nick trailed off as he tried to find the words. Dean immediately adopted an interested face, having been reminded about that detail. Nick sighed before continuing. “Sam, Lucifer’s an angel. They’re all celestial beings that were created without gender. So when God opened the Cage and created new vessels for Michael and Lucifer so as not to bother you two about it ever again, Lucifer adopted the gender of her new vessel. She insists that she must be female if that’s the vessel God made specifically for her.”

“Our day has turned into an episode of the fucking Twilight Zone,” Dean said with a forced laugh.

Nick shrugged in response, not knowing what else to say. When he woke up that morning, he didn’t expect to run into Sam and Dean.

“You said that he… that _she_ is back at the house. I’m assuming you mean your house?” Sam asked, correcting himself mid-sentence.

“Yeah. As I said, kinda hard to say no to God,” Nick shot out sarcastically, feeling a bit more relaxed now that he knew they weren’t going to do anything to him.

“How do you even still have your house?”

“Take us.”

Nick closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Definitely not the day he expected.

“Lucifer will explain how I still have my house, Dean,” Nick said after a moment. “And fine. I’ll take you. She’s not going to be happy, but I’ll take you.”

“I’m not in the business of caring about what makes Lucifer happy,” Dean said with a grin, patting Nick on the shoulder. “Sammy, you ride with Nick. I’ll follow in the Impala.”

Sam nodded in acknowledgement before Dean walked away. Sam gave Nick and awkward look, realizing that this was the first time they were alone together without Lucifer involved, and followed Dean back around the building without waiting for Nick. This was going to be an interesting evening.


End file.
